weirdass cycles - help!!!

[kryley]

Hey guys

This particular problem as got me completely stumped!!

We have been having a few problems on Lane 6 for a week or so. We've been getting reports from bowlers saying that they leave 7 (pins, not pin no 7) or something on their first ball but then the sweep just sweeps them away and leaves a "blank" deck

One of our other mechanics realigned our camera and checked the grippers the other day and they are fine.... it happened again last night and it has me baffled!! I sat on it for about an hour and of course it didn't happen!! Anyway, soon after i get a call from control saying he saw it happen and this is what he described it to me as.

The bowler threw their first ball. The sweep went down to guard - the table went down to offspot height and went back up - sweep ran through and cleared deck and returned to 270deg guard - table came back down to respot height to respot "phantom" pins and both sweep & table returned to zero leaving a clear deck!!! Apparently there wasn't an offspot pin!!

I only had a bit of time last night to check this, so i checked the off-spot switch and it was fine. When i go in tonight I will check the machines off-spot cycle with a pin actually off-spot - I will keep you posted on my progress..

In the mean time, does anyone have any idea what this could be???

Thanks a lot in advance

Kehan

Have fun!!

[This message has been edited by kryley (edited 12-28-2000).]

[8270 pinspotter]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

What kind of chassis are you running. I saw this happen when I upgraded my chassis from 5 board to the Single board from AMF (Creative Tech.) It was do to the sweep reverse relay being connected backwards. All I did was reverse the red and black wires and all was well. If you have those relays in the backend controll box, I would check the wiring.

Good Luck!

[kryley]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

8270 pinspotter:

We are running both the single board silver chassis as well as the black mp chassis (both from creative technologies i think??)

I will check the sweep reverse relays, but if this was wired incorrectly wouldn't this problem occur non-stop so to speak??

This only happens probably twice every 3 or 4 days which is what has me stumped!!

[8270 pinspotter]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

When I had this problem, it only occured when a gutter ball or a strike was thrown. Since the problem seems to be intermittent it probably is not electrical. Check the table drive for any broken or loose parts. If you can happen to see what happens mechanically when the problem occurs you will probably be able to fix it. Sounds to me like there could be a bind in the table drive or related parts somewhere causing it to jam and never make it down to respot height. The more I think about this problem, the more I think it's something mechanical and not electrical. Sorry I can't be of more assistance. I have a good friend that might know some other things to try. I'll ask him and post the information.

Good Luck!

[Kat]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

You mentioned you checked the OS microswitch. Was this just a visual inspection or did you check for proper gap using the go/no go gauge? If that checks out fine, I wold run a continuity check on the conductor from the OS microswitch to the terminal board in the wireway.

There are times when the conductors in the SO type cords become brittle over the years and break apart inside the jacket.

Kat

[Joe]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

I had a problem like this and what it ended up being was the tie rod out of adjustment. I wouldn't happen all the time. The fingers would close on the pins indicating pins still standing but the fingers would not lock. Also check the link assembly this could be keeping the fingers from locking. Another thing check and see if it only happens with certain pins standing. Maybe you have a tight cell. good luck.

[Jimmy Jam]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

When I have weirdass things happening I usually end up with a broken yolk or table shaft.

[Dutch]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

I agree with Kat. It sounds to me like it’s somewhere in the OS circuit. The camera says there are pins there but the chassis isn’t getting or responding to the signal from the OS switch.
Do you still have some of the old PC boards around? We kept the old boards in our spare chassis so that we could troubleshoot using the lights from PC # 1. If you can, see if the OS light is coming on when the switch is activated. If you don’t have any old boards & you’re using MK-70’s, Omega-Tek sells a diagnostic board that will do the same thing as the old PC # 1, only it uses LED’s.
Dutch

[felix]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

i still have magic score/A.P.S.chassis could the problem lie here or aps plug & amp pins

[kryley]

Re: weirdass cycles - help!!!

Joe,

After checking through a few things, and also consulting a head mechanic from the area, I decided to do a full respot system adjustment on lane 6 (eg tie rods and pawl adjustments) and I haven't had a problem since. Even though I initially said the table didn't go to respot height, I was only told this from the control operator that told me what happened.

After doing the respot adjustment however, I found the gap between the pawl and the shifter mech was about MINUS an eighth of an inch instead of an eighth of an inch, so i fixed that and haven't had a problem. Will see how it goes.......

Thanks for your help so far, more replies are welcomed just in case that hasn't fixed it!!!

I do agree with 8270 pinspotter though in that the more i think about it the problem seems more mechanical than electrical

Thanks alot
Kehan

Have fun!!